Lauren ended the episode by deciding to leave Walford for a fresh start with her son Louie, vowing to live her life to the full for the sake of her sister Abi.

While we all knew that Lauren was being written out of the soap, the exact nature of her exit was kept under wraps until last night's broadcast, though Jacqueline confirmed it was her final appearance (at least for now) as she paid tribute to both her character and the Branning sisters after the episode aired.

Jacqueline has played the role of Lauren since 2010 when she took over the part that had been played by actress Madeline Duggan since 2006.

Lauren and Abi's final episode also featured another appearance from their mum Tanya, played by actress Jo Joyner, who also commended her TV daughter on Twitter after the episode.

"Thanks for all the lovely tweets! I didn't realise it was on, so not even seen it myself yet. But what I do know is that @jacquelineMjos Is such a wonderful actress/mother/beauty that I'm really happy that I got to be there for her goodbye #onward&upward," she wrote.

Thanks for all the lovely tweets! I didn’t realise it was on, so not even seen it myself yet. But what I do know is that @jacquelineMjos Is such a wonderful actress/mother/beauty that I’m really happy that I got to be there for her goodbye #onward&upward 😘😘